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Understanding Michael Porter

The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy

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Understanding Michael Porter

By: Joan Magretta
Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
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About this listen

A Distillation of The Most Important Business Thinking of Our Time

Michael Porter’s groundbreaking ideas on competition and strategy have unfolded over three decades and are spread across a dauntingly long list of publications. Every manager can name individual pieces of his work - competitive advantage, the value chain, five forces - but no one, not even Porter himself, has put the entire puzzle together to reveal it as an integrated whole. This lucid, concise audiobook does just that. Written with Porter’s full cooperation by Joan Magretta, his former editor at Harvard Business Review, this book provides an engaging summary of Porter’s ideas and an invaluable synthesis of this important body of work, making clear how each of Porter’s powerful concepts relates to the others and, most important, to the practical realities managers face.

Modern thinking about competition and strategy begins with Porter’s frameworks. They are the most widely used in practice by managers around the world. But as Magretta points out, Porter is often misunderstood and his frameworks misapplied. Magretta’s own wide-ranging business experience allows her to identify the most common of these misconceptions - among them, the deeply held but dangerous belief that competition is about being the best. Understand Porter and you will see why competing to be the best sparks an inevitable race to the bottom.

Understanding Michael Porter will enable all leaders throughout any organization to grasp Porter’s seminal ideas about competition and strategy and deploy them to achieve competitive success.

©2011 Joan Magretta (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp
Forecasting & Strategic Planning Management Business Innovation
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What listeners say about Understanding Michael Porter

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great content - Grating delivery

The author really does achieve the stated aim of a powerful exec summary of the main Porter works. Five forces, leads onto the key strategy points, all of which are well explained. The examples throughout fit really well, and give a bit of a break from the detail.

I really struggled with the delivery though. As a Brit, I am used to listening to US narrators on audiobooks. However, this one pushes things just a little bit too far - it is Stra-te-gy, not Strad-er-gieee! I'm afraid that Mr Synnerstvedt is the reason why I haven't started my second listen yet to pick up all of the things that I missed first time round.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best book on strategy I've read (heard!)

Well structured, well paced, and brings together the best of Porter's genius insights in an easily digested format. Highly recommend it!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great summary of porter

If you could sum up Understanding Michael Porter in three words, what would they be?

logical, simple enjoyable

What other book might you compare Understanding Michael Porter to, and why?

I read alot of business books so i cant say whether one stands out.

What does Erik Synnestvedt bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

He was very clear, I can say that it was very easy to listen to and I have remembered alot of it. It was very powerful so I cannot recommend it better than that.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It really made me think about my own business. There are some basic concepts in here that are very useful. Most people in business, simply run from on year end to the next without trying to change things. The main features of porter writings come out in this book so it will help you develop your own, even at a very basic level which is exactly what is needed, if you even just want to make small changes each year, to better your working life which will impact your outside life too then.

Any additional comments?

Really enjoyed this book, stuck to several key themes which made it very vivid. I learned alot from this book and am reviewing the strategy in my own business or the lack of it as it turns out!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

it is more clear than Porter himself

it is more clear than Porter himself.
well read.
factual.
plenty of good examples.
i honestly recommend this audiobook

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great overview

Great overview of Porter's work with very clear explanations and examples. Annoying narration but worth staying with.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great review and dive into Porters work.

May seem like old stuff, if you're already familiar with and practicing Porters work on strategy. But does add important new insights, applocation ideas and reminder and reinforcement of key ideas.

If you haven't read and applied Porter, then ot is essential reading.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good content , poor narration.

Would you try another book written by Joan Magretta or narrated by Erik Synnestvedt?

Joan Magretta - Yes, but not narrated by Erik Synnestvedt

What was one of the most memorable moments of Understanding Michael Porter?

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Erik Synnestvedt?

Not sure but someone else.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Decent

The book is fine, if not very helpful. as the description says Magretta does not try to teach you anything you cannot get from Porter himself. She only tries to build examples that would make Porters points more clear. The narrator however is something else, never before have I heard a more annoying reading of a book. He blitzes through most of the text and then for some reason draws out the last word of almost every sentence.

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7 people found this helpful